Donald Sterling receives lifetime NBA ban; forced to sell Clippers

So today in a conference, NBA Commisioner Adam Silver announced that Clippers Owner Donald Sterling will be banned from the NBA for life, and will be forced to sell the Clippers.

So, the question I ask to you guys, do you agree with the NBAs decision?

I, personally, do not agree. While what Sterling has said is nothing I condone, its still protected under the constitution. I dont agree at all that you should be able to force someone to sell the team that they own. May be the unpopular opinion here, but we'll see. What do you guys think?

So today in a conference, NBA Commisioner Adam Silver announced that Clippers Owner Donald Sterling will be banned from the NBA for life, and will be forced to sell the Clippers.

So, the question I ask to you guys, do you agree with the NBAs decision?

I, personally, do not agree. While what Sterling has said is nothing I condone, its still protected under the constitution. I dont agree at all that you should be able to force someone to sell the team that they own. May be the unpopular opinion here, but we'll see. What do you guys think?

You realize that the 1st Amendment states that there will be no LAW passed abridging the freedom of speech, right? You can still totally be fired for saying something stupid, just not arrested.
Regardless, it was clear that even his players did not want to be associated with him.

Say my name and his in the same breath, I dare you to say they taste they same.

His comments werent right, but I dont agree with him being forced to sell the team.

well when a person buys a NBA team they agree to rules. he broke those rules. but he is very rich and can fight this for years if he wanted. or just sell the team. there saying the team is worth over a billion cause it's in LA. there was 19 people who wanted to buy the last time for sale. so he will have no trouble finding a buyer. i can't remember who the last team was. but they were a small market team i think.

I don't get this whole "My constitutional rights mean I can say any stupid shit I want" defense. That's just the most ignorant argument you could conjure for anything in my humble opinion. Don't people realise that by saying such stuff, you are effectively just wiping your ass with your own constitution?

Racist, sexist dickholes have every constitutional right to be racist, sexist dickholes. That said, the NBA has every right to not want racist, sexist dickholes anywhere near their multi billion dollar empire.

Few seem to understand that the First Amendment does not confer ANY absolute right of free speech. What it does is place a limit on the power of one branch of government to control speech, the legislative branch. And even that limit is more myth than reality.

You can't go up to someone and say something offensive, whether it is racist, sexist, or in any way inappropriate and say that nothing can happen to you because the 1st Amendment protects you. While you can't be arrested or charged with a crime, it is still a heinous act.

Remember, the NBA has their OWN Constitution that players, employees, owners, and everyone else involved with them have to follow. What Sterling did, whether it is was in private or in public, is a heinous act and deserved to be treated as one. I don't think the fine should've happened, unless the NBA plans to donate them to several minority associations. But the banning and almost guaranteed order of selling the team and ownership is completely fair.

It doesn't matter if is a prominently African-American league, or Caucasian league, or Hispanic league, or Asian league, or any other league. What he said was wrong, and utterly disturbing and he deserves to be punished because as an owner, a representative of the NBA, he is supposed to be held to high standards and represent the NBA well. While these comments were said privately per say, the ultimate deciding factor was his past run-ins with racism and unethical behavior. This isn't the first time this has happened with Donald Sterling and this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

He deserves to be banned and lose the PRIVILEGE to own a team in the NBA. And anyone who questions otherwise really needs to take a step back and realize the repercussions of Donald Sterling's actions and words.

It also doesn't help him that the President of NBA's Player Association is someone on the Clippers and is against what Sterling said, along with the coach of the team as well.

Adam Silver did the RIGHT thing in banning him and pushing for Sterling to be forced to sell the team and his ownership. I applaud him for doing this and so should everyone else.